Shoulder strap bag

ABSTRACT

A shoulder strap bag formed from a tube of thin flexible material, having a seam across the bottom, and an inverted Ushaped cut above the bag forming the remainder of the material into a shoulder strap and two flaps which may be hung from the upper edges of the bag, one flap folded over the top opening of the bag and hanging outside the upper flap.

1 States Patent 1191 Whittaker 1 Aug. 27, 1974 SHOULDER S'IMll BAG [76]Inventor: Alvin Whittalker, 5274 Lindley Ave., Encino, Calif. 91316 22Filed: Mar. 12, 1973 21 Appl. No.: 330,230

51 1111.01 A450 3/02,A45c 13/26 [58] Field 01 Search 150/28 R, 12, 33,42, 1.8;

229/54 R; 224/47 X, 45 H, 26, 26 C, 26 X,-

26 D, 26 E, 26H

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 684,234 10/1901 Haywood150/l.7 2,096,161 10/1937 Curran 150/12 X 2,781,161 2/1957 Aderus 229/54R 3,011,173 12/1961 Goetz ..150/1.7 X FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS901,532 5/1972 Canada 229/54 R 977,067 12/1964 Great Britain 150/12Primary Examiner-Herbert F. Ross Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Forrest J.Lilly [5 7] ABSTRACT A shoulder strap bag formed from a tube of thinflexible material, having a seam across the bottom, and an invertedU-shaped cut above the bag forming the remainder of the material into ashoulder strap and two flaps which may be hung from the upper edges ofthe bag, one flap folded over the top opening of the bag and hangingoutside the upper flap.

2 Claims, 41 Drawing Figures snowman STRAP BAG BACKGROUND or THEINVENTION Shoulder strap bags have recently been popularized. It is mypurpose to provide a novel, very inexpensive, shoulder strap bag, incontrast to those smart and relatively expensive bags made of leather,and provided with a leather shoulder strap loop, such as are now used asa fashion accessory by both men and women. In other words, it is mypurpose to provide a novel, very inexpensive, utility shoulder strapbag, of very great all around usage, for example, as a shopping bag orthe like, or a bag in which an article such as a dress may be packagedby a store for convenient carriage home by the purchaser.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The article of the invention is madefrorn'thin, flexible, plastics material. This material is made in a tubepreferably about 27% inches long, and with a circumference of about 31%inches. This tube, in a flattened condition, is formed with a weld seamat the bottom, forming the bottom of the bag, and is preferably formedwith rounded corners at the top. With the tube flat, a cut is then madein an inverted U form, beginning at a point about 12 inches up from thebottom of the bag, and spaced about 1% inches inwardly from one sideedge of the flattened tube, the cut extending vertically upward fromthis point, around the upper end rounded corner, still at 1% inchesinside the outer boundary of the article, horizontally across, aroundthe inside of the opposite upper end rounded corner, and verticallydownward to a point located like the beginning point but adjacent theopposite edge of the bag. Two flaps or aprons are thereby formed, andthese may be folded down on a line joining the two points mentionedabove. The two flaps thus hang from opposite edges of the top of thebag, one hanging free, and the other folded over the first, and servingto close the bag. The plastics material outside the inverted U-cut formsthe shoulder strap.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. I is a perspective view of ashoulder strap bag in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 2 is an elevational view taken in the direction of the arrow 2 inFIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a side elevational view of the bag, with the flaps in up"position, as they were at the time of initial cutting; and

FIG. 4 is a transverse section taken on line 4-4 of FIG. 3.

DESCRIPTION OF A PRESENT ILLUSTRATIVE EMBODIMENT In the drawings, ashoulder strap bag in accordance with the invention is shown generallyat 10, the bag part at 11, the shoulder strap at 12, and the pocketflaps at 13, there being two flaps 13 in this instance ofidentical shapeand construction, hanging one in front of the other, as seen best inFIGS. 1 and 2. The bag part comprises two opposed side panels llla, witha horizontal top edge and flap fold line at llb.

In FIG. 3, as well as in FIG. 4, it can be seen that the article isfabricated from a thin, flexible tube of plastics material, designatedat 15 in FIG. 4. In the making of the article, this tube is flattened asseen in FIG. 4, where the bag may be considered as lying flat on a flatsurface, not shown. At the time of cutting the material, done preferablywith a die cutter, and with the article in the flattened position ofFIG. 3, the two sides 15a and 15b of the tube may be regarded as restingone on the other, with the two resting on the support surface. The bagis formed at the bottom with a weld seam, which can be either a sealmade by heat or it can be a sonic seal. Thus, the bag has a sealedbottom end 16.

The construction of the bag is .as follows:

Certain dimensions were given for atypical bag in accordance with theinvention in the introductory portion of the specification, and whiletypical, it will of course be understood that such dimensions are notlimitative on the invention. Accordingly, a thin, flexible plastic tube,of suitable dimensions, is provided. With this tube thus flattened andresting on a support surface, as mentioned hereinabove, an invertedU-shaped cut 18 is then made, using preferably, though not necessarily,a cutting die. For a bag of dimensions heretofore mentioned, this cut 18begins at a point 19 spaced inwardly from one side edge of the bag byapproximately 1% inches, and spaced above the bottom of the bag by about12 inches. The cut 18 extends vertically from this point 19, up and thenaround the curved upward corner portion 20 of the bag at uniform spacingfrom the outer margin thereof, thence horizontally across the bag at thesame spacing, inside and around the other rounded corner of the bag,still at the same spacing, and thence vertically downward to a point 22which is located similarly to point 19 but on the opposite edge portionof the bag.

The beginning tube, above the bag, is thus formed or divided into ashoulder strap, and two flaps or aprons 13, one of which is foldedoutwardly and down, and the other of which is folded over the open upperend side of the bag, and thence dropped downwardly on the outside of thefirst mentioned flap or apron, to the position clearly shown in FIG. 2.Vertical cuts such as 24 may be made in the free ends of the flaps 13,and hang as decorative fringe when the bag is in the position of FIGS. 1or 2.

In use, the strap 12 is slung over the shoulder, flaps 13 on theoutside. To gain access to the bag, the outer flap 13 is simply lifted.

It will be seen that the bag as thus made can be manufactured at a verylow cost, sufficiently low that the article can be treated as agive-away item, in which case, of course, the flaps, or the outer flap,may bear advertising words or indicia. The bag is. very convenient inuse, and affords an excellent bag into which a dress, for example,properly folded, can be packaged. The article is thus suited to amerchandising program in which the carrying bag of the invention can besupplied to the customer to carry away a purchased item such as a dress.

The invention is of course capable of being embodied in variousdimensions, various materials, and for various specific uses, and it isalso possible to make many changes in the form or structure of the bagwithout departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as definedin the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A shoulder strap bag composed of a flexible material, comprising:

'a tube of said material having a seam closing a lower end thereof, andproviding two opposed side panels which are adapted to lie substantiallyflat in a plane containing said seam,

at least one of said side panels terminating at an uppermost horizontaledge,

a flap integrally joined to said uppermost horizontal edge and adaptedto be folded over the other side panel to close the bag, and

opposite vertical and edge portions of said tube having verticalextensions rising above said side panels at opposite ends thereof andextended inwardly towards and joined to one another at the top to form ashoulder strap, said extensions forming said shoulder strap comprise twooverlying vertical strips at each said opposite ends, said overlyingverticl strips being integral with the material of the bag andintegrally joined together along the outer vertical edges thereof topoints near the top of the shoulder straps, a pair of generallyhorizontal top strips unjoined to each other and adapted to lie adjacentto one another, said top strips being integrally joined to saidoverlying vertical strips at the ends thereof and forming said shoulderstraps. 2. The subject matter of claim 1, wherein each of said sidepanels is furnished with an integrally joined flap, and one hangs fromthe upper edge of its side panel,

and the other folds thereover.

1. A shoulder strap bag composed of a flexible material, comprising: atube of said material having a seam closing a lower end thereof, andproviding two opposed side panels which are adapted to lie substantiallyflat in a plane containing said seam, at least one of said side panelsterminating at an uppermost horizontal edge, a flap integrally joined tosaid uppermost horizontal edge and adapted to be folded over the otherside panel to close the bag, and opposite vertical and edge portions ofsaid tube having vertical extensions rising above said side Panels atopposite ends thereof and extended inwardly towards and joined to oneanother at the top to form a shoulder strap, said extensions formingsaid shoulder strap comprise two overlying vertical strips at each saidopposite ends, said overlying verticl strips being integral with thematerial of the bag and integrally joined together along the outervertical edges thereof to points near the top of the shoulder straps, apair of generally horizontal top strips unjoined to each other andadapted to lie adjacent to one another, said top strips being integrallyjoined to said overlying vertical strips at the ends thereof and formingsaid shoulder straps.
 2. The subject matter of claim 1, wherein each ofsaid side panels is furnished with an integrally joined flap, and onehangs from the upper edge of its side panel, and the other foldsthereover.